As is well known, pirates don’t stick to any agreements – and that fits pretty well with Skull & Bones, because Ubisoft’s open-world adventure is being postponed again, for the sixth time now. In a financial report Ubisoft justifies the release postponement with its own claim to deliver the best possible experience:
We decided to delay the release to offer a more polished and balanced experience. Skull & Bones will now be released sometime between 2023 and 2024.
To avoid any misunderstandings: March 9, 2023 was the original new date that Ubisoft had committed to after the last postponement in September 2022. Now the release is moving indefinitely into the current year – it remains to be seen whether we will even have to wait until the autumn business.
But at least you get an Open Beta to see for yourself the current state of the game. So far, however, there is no concrete date.
Skull & Bones riots
Skull & Bones has had a difficult development history for years. Originally the game was clocked around 2018, but Ubisoft made the decision to recode large parts of the game until the game finally came out in a new guise in 2022. But here, too, the first impressions of the fans remained cautious – including ours, by the way:
11:01
Skull & Bones – Preview video for Ubisoft’s pirate open world
Skull & Bones relies on controversial game design choices deep in its own DNA. For example, apart from a few social hub worlds, you never leave your own ship, which of course makes boarding and conquering enemy ships a comparatively boring affair. Especially in comparison to the model Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, features are missing here that many fans would like – and the additional four to five years of development don’t change that.
On the other hand, no one has been able to play the new version of the game yet. So it remains exciting how Skull & Bones ultimately feels.
What do you think? Are you still hoping for a happy ending? Or did you write off the game?
